Advances in Metal Exposure and Lung Diseases

Dear Colleagues,

The acute or chronic exposure to toxic metallic elements is a known risk factor for the development of pulmonary diseases both in occupationally and environmentally polluted environments. Metallic elements can accumulate in the airways both in soluble and non-soluble forms (ultra-fine or fine particles or metal containing engineered nanoparticles) and can interact with pulmonary tissues, inducing several toxic effects (i.e. oxidative stress, direct interaction with proteins and DNA, etc.) which leads to several pulmonary diseases, among which lung cancer. The traditional biomonitoring of metallic elements is based on the direct determination of them in biological matrices, like blood and urine, that reflect a systemic exposure. However, in recent years, new methodologies have been developed to detect the effective dose at the target organ level, by monitoring the metallic concentrations in new biological fluids, such as exhaled breath condensate and induced sputum. Furthermore, direct relationships between biomarkers of exposure and effects have been observed in exposed workers, showing molecular modifications of the airways also in the absence of clear disease signs.

This Special Issue of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (IJERPH) focuses on the recent advances on the relationship between metal exposure and lung diseases. Research papers on metal single or multiple exposure and risk assessment, determination of new biomarkers of exposure and effects, mechanisms of metal pneumotoxicity, also in the nano form, are welcome to this issue. Furthermore, general and systematic reviews, epidemiological studies, case reports and conference papers about the same topics are also welcome.

Prof. Dr. Matteo Goldoni
Prof. Massimo Corradi
Dr. Sara Tagliaferri
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2500 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• metal exposure
• lung diseases
• biomonitoring
• pneumotoxicology
• risk assessment
• exposed workers
• metal polluted environments
• lung target dose